| 释义 |
slash-and-burn, attrib. phr.
Also slash and burn, slash-burn, slash, burn.
[f. phr. to slash and burn: see slash v., burn v.1]
Designating a method of shifting cultivation in which vegetation is cut down in an area of virgin or rejuvenated forest, allowed to dry, and then burned off before seeds are planted. Also occas. in non-attrib. use.
1942Chapple & Coon Princ. Anthropol. viii. 189 Linton has a theory that the development of confederacies by the Maya and the Indians of the southeastern States was a consequence of this aspect of the slash-and-burn system. 1951[see swidden 2]. 1969G. Clark World Prehistory (ed. 2) vi. 126 The rapidity of their spread..was due in part to their use of slash and burn agriculture,..and in part to the lack of opposition. 1973J. J. McKelvey Man against Tsetse iii. 190 The Kibori River eradication program..obviated the need to continue with a slash-burn program. 1976Conservation News Sept./Oct. 5/1 The slash, burn, short-term cultivation and migration habit of tribal populations has been forced for centuries by the intractable fact that when an area of forest is cleared crops can be grown in it for only two or three seasons before the soil nutrients are exhausted. 1977G. Clark World Prehistory (ed. 3) iii. 126 The regime of slash and burn, involving the shift of cultivation every few years and the clearance of new patches of forest, inevitably implied the temporary abandonment of settlements. 1978Guardian Weekly 2 Apr. 13/1 Eking out a living by fishing, picking fruit and berries and by slash-and-burn farming.
Hence slash and burn v. trans.; slashed and burnt ppl. a. Also slash-ˈburning vbl. n., the process or practice of slash-and-burn agriculture.
1919Jrnl. Forestry XVII. 277 It is proposed..to conduct slash-burning operations under control in selected localities [in Canada] and observe the establishment of natural regeneration through a period of years. 1949Malayan Forester XII. 83 The plot was established in order to ascertain the extent of soil erosion..and to study natural plant succession of the slashed and burnt..areas. 1954Brit. Columbia Lumberman Mar. 78 Slash burning in a good seed year should precede seedfall, if possible. 1955J. D. Freeman Iban Agric. vi. 128 Deleterious results..ensue when healthy, young vegetation..is slashed and burnt before proper regeneration..has taken place. Ibid. 129 Three sample plots were established to study ‘natural plant succession’, on (a) the slashed and burnt area [etc.]. 1980Search XI. 71/2 Since slash-burning has been widely used [in Australia] only for the last 20–25 years, there has been no opportunity in Australian native forests to observe its effect on the productivity of successive forest rotations. 1981P. Theroux Mosquito Coast xii. 137 Slash and burn the whole area and we've got four or five acres of good growing land.
▸ 2. fig. orig. and chiefly U.S. Also slash'n'burn. Designating a highly aggressive or ruthless approach, attitude, etc.; devastatingly destructive or critical; swingeing, unstinting, no-holds-barred. Also (occas.) in predicative use as n.
1978Washington Post 6 Aug. b3/2 At a time when urban renewal seems to employ a slash-and-burn method of modernization..a band of concerned citizens has saved the architectural ancestry of Cape May. 1981United Press Internat. Newswire (Nexis) 27 Feb. Faced with inevitable defeat, I began slash-and-burn techniques in the hope that somehow my petty harassing moves would force an error. But..by the 29th move, checkmate was imminent. 1985Money Oct. 140/2 Even if you think of yourself as the last of the great slash-and-burn investors, you should try to construct a sensibly aggressive IRA composed..of..investments that also have potential for capital appreciation. 1987St. Petersburg (Florida) Times 24 Oct. 4 d/2 There is..a full helping of slash-and-burn humor. 1989Sound Choice Autumn 28/2 This is a fine publication of slash-and-burn criticism. 1994Our Schools/Our Selves Nov. 153 A Sad Time To Be A Teacher... Slash and Burn in Alberta Schools. 1998Melody Maker 28 Feb. 36/1 The shift from drowned Portishead-style noir to raging, slash'n'burn riffola is worthy of Prince at his furthest out. |
